turtle stone: see concretion.

stone marten: see marten.

stone curlew: see thick-knee.

stone, in weights and measures: see English units of measurement.

semiprecious stone: see gem.

precious stone: see gem.

philosopher's stone: see alchemy.

mocha stone: see agate.

Thomas Stone National Historic Site: see National Parks and Monuments (table).

Stone, Thomas, 1743-87, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Charles co., Md. A lawyer, he was (1775-78) a delegate to the Continental Congress, where he served on the committee that framed the Articles of Confederation. Later, he again served briefly in Congress.

Stone, Robert, 1937-, American novelist, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. He was briefly (1971) a correspondent in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) during the Vietnam War. His experiences there helped form the basis for his best-known novel, Dog Soldiers (1974, National Book Award), which was filmed as Who'll Stop the Rain (1978) with a screenplay by Stone. The book is an account of Vietnam-related drug smuggling, brutality, and disenchantment. Stone's philosophical bent, his vividly gritty style, and his edgy wit are evident in his portrayals of some of American life's darker aspects. His characters often fruitlessly attempt to deal with inescapable events, and the ghost of the Vietnam conflict hovers over much of his fiction. His other works include A Hall of Mirrors (1967), A Flag for Sunrise (1981), Children of Light (1986), Outerbridge Reach (1992), and Bear and His Daughter: Stories (1997). His acclaimed novel Damascus Gate (1998) is a probing story of religion-based conflicts in contemporary Jerusalem; it was followed by Bay of Souls (2003). Stone has won numerous awards, traveled widely, and taught at Princeton, Harvard, and other universities.

Stone, Oliver, 1946-, American filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer, b. New York City, studied filmmaking with Martin Scorsese at New York Univ. (B.F.A., 1971). Stone enlisted (1967) in the army and saw combat in Vietnam, winning a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. He adapted the screenplay for Midnight Express (1978; Academy Award) and authored other scripts before directing his first Hollywood film, The Hand (1981). Stone won critical plaudits for Salvador (1986), but it was not until he wrote and directed the grimly realistic Vietnam War drama Platoon (1986; Academy Award, best director) that he catapulted to popular success. In his exploration of various uniquely American themes, Stone has become a controversial figure, frequently criticized for mingling fact and fiction in some films (e.g., JFK, 1991) and for portraying extreme violence in others (e.g., Natural Born Killers, 1994). His many other movies include Wall Street (1987), Born on the Fourth of July (1989; Academy Award, best director), The Doors (1991), Nixon (1995), and World Trade Center (2006).

Stone, Nicholas, 1586-1647, English sculptor and mason, b. Devonshire. He rose to a position of highest importance as a decorative sculptor, working after designs by Inigo Jones. His independent productions include the gate at St. Mary's, Oxford, and numerous tombs, such as that of the Viscount Dorchester, Westminster Abbey. His notebook and account book are preserved in the Soane Museum, London, and give much information about his trade. He also wrote a work on fortifications (1645).

Stone, Melville Elijah, 1848-1929, American journalist, b. Hudson, Ill. With others he founded in 1876 the first Chicago penny paper, the Daily News, and in 1881 the Morning News (later the Record). Stone became general manager of the reorganized Associated Press in 1893, and under his direction it became one of the great news agencies. He retired in 1921.

Stone, Lucy, 1818-93, reformer and leader in the women's rights movement, b. near West Brookfield, Mass., grad. Oberlin, 1847. In 1847 she gave her first lecture on women's rights, and the following year she was engaged by the Anti-Slavery Society as one of their regular lecturers. As a speaker she had great eloquence and was often able to sway an unruly and antagonistic audience. She married Henry Brown Blackwell in 1855 but continued, as a matter of principle, to use her own name and was known as Mrs. Stone. In 1870 she founded the Woman's Journal, which was for nearly 50 years the official organ of the American Woman Suffrage Association and, after 1890, the National American Woman Suffrage Association. After her death it was edited by her daughter, Alice Stone Blackwell. In 1921 the Lucy Stone League was formed to continue the battle for women's rights.

Stone, I. F., 1907-89, American journalist, b. Philadelphia as Isidor Feinstein. Raised in New Jersey, he moved to New York City shortly after beginning his career as a journalist. Later moving to Washington, D.C., he served as an editor of The Nation (1940-46) and subsequently worked on a series of daily newspapers. In 1953 he began his own journal, I. F. Stone's Weekly, which in 1967 became I. F. Stone's Bi-Weekly; it was published until 1971. In his writing, Stone concentrated on U.S. foreign policy, on the government's justification for that policy, and on the way America's mainstream press reported on these subjects. A determined opponent of the cold war and domestic loyalty measures in the 1950s, Stone was one of the most influential liberal journalists of the postwar period. Late in his life he wrote The Trial of Socrates (1989), a product of his study in his later years of classical Greek.

Stone, Harlan Fiske, 1872-1946, American jurist, 12th Chief Justice of the United States (1941-46), b. Chesterfield, N.H. A graduate (1898) of Columbia Univ. law school, he was admitted (1899) to the bar, practiced law in New York City, and lectured at the Columbia law school, where he became professor (1902) and dean (1910). He resigned his deanship in 1923 and, as U.S. Attorney General (1924-25) under President Coolidge, helped to restore faith in the Dept. of Justice after the Teapot Dome scandals. Appointed (1925) Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, he established a reputation for his vigorous minority opinions, especially those in which he defended the social and economic welfare legislation of the New Deal against the conservative majority. Stone saw many of his minority opinions later accepted as majority decisions. He succeeded Charles Evans Hughes as Chief Justice. Public Control of Business (1940) is a selection of Stone's opinions as Associate Justice.

Stone, Edward Durell, 1902-78, American architect, b. Fayetteville, Ark. Stone's first major work, designed in the starkly functional International style in collaboration with Philip L. Goodwin, was the Museum of Modern Art, New York City (1937-39). Stone, whose style became more ornate and embellished in the 1950s, won renown for his design of the U.S. embassy at New Delhi (1958). In this building he introduced traditional Muslim motifs, including lacy grille patterns. Stone subsequently applied grillwork to many of his buildings, including the U.S. pavilion for the Brussels World's Fair (1958) and the Huntington Hartford Museum (1962; now the New York Cultural Center), New York City. Among his later works are the Amarillo Fine Arts Museum (1969); the Univ. of Alabama law school (1970); the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (1971), Washington D.C.; and the Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula, Carmel, Calif.

Stone, Barton Warren, 1772-1844, American clergyman of Kentucky. With four other ministers he withdrew from the Presbyterian Church and in 1804 began to form new churches whose members called themselves simply Christians. Through his acquaintance with Alexander Campbell he sought to merge (1832) the Christians with the Disciples of Christ.

Stone Town, Zanzibar: see Zanzibar, city.

Stone Mountain Memorial, memorial to the Confederacy, consisting of the equestrian figures of Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and Jefferson Davis carved on the northern face of Stone Mt., a granite dome 650 ft (198 m) high in NW Ga., NE of Atlanta. The memorial was commissioned by the Daughters of the Confederacy in 1916 and was designed and partially executed by Gutzon Borglum. In 1925, sculptor Augustus Lukeman took charge of the project. Work stopped in 1930 and was not resumed until 1963, when the state of Georgia purchased the mountain and established a state park. Walter Hahock completed the sculpture, which was dedicated in 1970.

Stone Age: see Paleolithic period; Mesolithic period; Neolithic period.

Rosetta Stone: see under Rosetta.

Palermo stone, ancient Egyptian stone of black diorite engraved toward the end of the 5th dynasty (2565-2420 B.C.) and containing the earliest extant annals. The stone is only a small fragment of what was once a large slab. It is a hieroglyphic list of the kings of ancient Egypt before and after Menes, with regnal years and notations of events, and also includes such information as the height of the flooding of the Nile in various years. The stone was so named because it is housed in a museum in Palermo, Italy; small pieces of the stone are also in Cairo and in London.

Old Stone Age: see Paleolithic period.

New Stone Age: see Neolithic period.

Moabite stone, ancient slab of stone erected in850 B.C. by King Mesha of Moab; it contains a long inscription commemorating a victory in his revolt against Israel. It was discovered at Dibon, Jordan (1868), by F. A. Klein, a German clergyman. Although it was later broken when Klein tried to purchase it from the Arabs, most of the fragments were recovered. They are in the Louvre. The language of the Moabites is a Phoenician dialect that represents an early form of Hebrew.

Kensington Rune Stone, much-disputed stone found (1898) on a farm near Kensington, Minn., SW of Alexandria. Inscribed on the stone in runes is an account of a party of Norse explorers, 14 days' journey from the sea, who camped nearby in 1362 and lost 10 of their men, presumably to Native Americans. Archaeological and philological disputes have been waged over the authenticity of the stone. Most scholars argue that the stone is a hoax, i.e., that it is of more recent origin than the 14th cent., though some accept it with the corroborative archaeological evidence. See Vinland.

Blackwell, Alice Stone, 1857-1950, American feminist, b. East Orange, N.J., grad. Boston Univ., 1881; daughter of Henry Brown Blackwell and Lucy Stone. She was an editor (1881-1917) of the Woman's Journal, first as assistant to her parents and after their death as editor in chief. Among her works are a biography of her mother (1930) and anthologies of poetry translated from several languages.

Big Stone Lake, narrow lake, c.25 mi (40 km) long, on the Minn.-S.Dak. line. Located in the outlet channel of glacial Lake Agassiz, it is the source of the Minnesota River and serves as a storage reservoir for the Minnesota Valley.

Fruit in which the outer layer is a thin skin, the middle layer is thick and usually fleshy (though sometimes tough, as in the almond, or fibrous, as in the coconut), and the inner layer (the pit) is hard and stony. Within the pit is usually one seed. In aggregate fruits such as the raspberry and blackberry (which are not true berries), many small drupes are clumped together. Other representative drupes are the cherry, peach, mango, olive, and walnut.

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Huge, often undressed stone used in various types of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age monuments. The most ancient form of megalithic construction is probably the dolmen, a type of burial chamber consisting of several upright supports and a flat roofing slab. Another form is the menhir, a simple upright stone usually placed with others to form a circle, as at Stonehenge and Avebury in England, or a straight alignment, as at Carnac in France. The meaning of megalithic monuments remains largely unknown, but all share certain architectural and technical features suggesting that their creators sought to impose a conspicuously human design on the landscape and imbue it with cultural symbols. Seealso rock art.

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Any of various minerals prized for beauty, durability, and rarity. A few noncrystalline materials of organic origin (e.g., pearl, red coral, and amber) also are classified as gemstones. Of the more than 3,500 identified natural minerals, fewer than 100 are used as gemstones and only 16 have achieved importance: beryl, chrysoberyl, corundum, diamond, feldspar, garnet, jade, lazurite, olivine, opal, quartz, spinel, topaz, tourmaline, turquoise, and zircon. Some of these (e.g., beryl and corundum) provide more than one type of gem. In virtually all cases, the minerals have to be cut and polished for use in jewelry.

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or renal calculus

Mass of minerals and organic matter that may form in a kidney. Urine contains many salts in solution, and low fluid volume or high mineral concentration can cause these salts to precipitate and grow, forming stones. Large stones can block urine flow, be a focus for infection, or cause renal colic (painful spasms). They can obstruct the urinary system at various points. Treatment deals with any underlying problem (e.g., infection or obstruction), tries to dissolve stones with drugs or ultrasound (lithotripsy), or removes large ones surgically.

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Abstract stone carving by the prehistoric cultures of North America. They resemble birds and are about 6 in. (15 cm) long. Many were carved from black, brown, or dark green slate and polished with sand or other abrasive materials. All feature a pair of conical holes running diagonally through the base. They may have been used as weights or handles on a short rod (known as an atlatl) used to hurl spears or arrows.

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(born Aug. 21, 1937, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. novelist. He served in the U.S. Navy before attending New York and Stanford universities. Dog Soldiers (1974, National Book Award), his second novel, brought home the corruption of the Vietnam War. His later works include the novels A Flag for Sunrise (1981), Outerbridge Reach (1992), and Damascus Gate (1998) and the short-story collection Bear and His Daughter (1997).

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(born Aug. 13, 1818, West Brookfield, Mass., U.S.—died Oct. 18, 1893, Dorchester, Mass.) U.S. pioneer in the woman suffrage movement. A graduate of Oberlin College (1847), she became a lecturer for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. She soon began speaking for women's rights and helped organize women's-rights conventions in the 1850s. She retained her own name after her marriage to Henry Blackwell (1825–1909) as a protest against the unequal laws applicable to married women; other women who later chose to do the same called themselves “Lucy Stoners.” In 1869 she and Blackwell helped establish the American Woman Suffrage Association and founded the influential suffrage magazine Woman's Journal, which they edited until their deaths. They were assisted by their daughter Alice Stone Blackwell (1857–1950), who served as chief editor (1893–1917).

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orig. Isidor Feinstein

(born Dec. 24, 1907, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—died June 18, 1989, Boston, Mass.) U.S. journalist. He worked on newspapers in his native Philadelphia and in New York and wrote for the leftist newspaper PM before starting his own investigative newsletter. From the outset I. F. Stone's Weekly (1953–67; I. F. Stone's Bi-Weekly, 1967–71) had an influence far greater than the size of its readership, which included some of the nation's most prominent politicians, academicians, and journalists. The sole author, Stone created a unique blend of wit, erudition, and pointed political commentary, and he became known for his espousal of unpopular causes long before they were taken up by the liberal establishment.

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(born Oct. 11, 1872, Chesterfield, N.H., U.S.—died April 22, 1946, Washington, D.C.) U.S. jurist. He studied at Columbia Law School and later practiced law while serving as dean (1910–23). Pres. Calvin Coolidge appointed him U.S. attorney general in 1924; during his tenure he reorganized the Federal Bureau of Investigation after its reputation had been tarnished by the Teapot Dome and other scandals. In 1925 Coolidge appointed him to the Supreme Court of the United States, and in 1941 Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt promoted him to chief justice, a position he retained until his death. He wrote more than 600 opinions, many on important constitutional questions. He was often less successful, however, in building a consensus among his associate justices, with the result that the court during his chief justiceship was often a bitterly divided body.

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(born March 9, 1902, Fayetteville, Ark., U.S.—died Aug. 6, 1978, New York, N.Y.) U.S. architect. He earned architecture degrees and traveled in Europe before joining the New York City firm that designed Radio City Music Hall. In 1936 he organized his own architectural firm. A leading exponent of the International Style, he designed El Panamá Hotel in Panama City (1946), the U.S. embassy in New Delhi (1954), the U.S. pavilion at the Brussels World's Fair (1958), the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. (1971), and the Aon Center in Chicago (1974). He also taught at Yale University (1946–52).

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First known period of prehistoric human culture, characterized by the use of stone tools. The term is little used by specialists today. See Paleolithic Period; Mesolithic Period; Neolithic Period; stone-tool industry. Seealso Bronze Age; Iron Age.

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Inscribed stone slab, now in the British Museum, that provided an important key to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs. An irregularly shaped block of black basalt with inscriptions in hieroglyphs, Demotic Egyptian, and Greek, it was discovered by Napoleon's troops near the town of Rosetta (Rashid), northeast of Alexandria, in 1799. The text concerns the deeds of Ptolemy V Epiphanes (205–180 BC) and dates from the ninth year of his reign. Its decipherment was begun by Thomas Young, who isolated the proper names in the Demotic version, and decisively completed by J.-F. Champollion, who grasped that some hieroglyphs were phonetic.

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(born Aug. 21, 1937, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. novelist. He served in the U.S. Navy before attending New York and Stanford universities. Dog Soldiers (1974, National Book Award), his second novel, brought home the corruption of the Vietnam War. His later works include the novels A Flag for Sunrise (1981), Outerbridge Reach (1992), and Damascus Gate (1998) and the short-story collection Bear and His Daughter (1997).

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or Old Stone Age

Ancient technological or cultural stage characterized by the use of rudimentary chipped stone tools. During the Lower Paleolithic (circa 2,500,000–200,000 years ago), simple pebble tools and crude stone choppers were made by the earliest humans. About 700,000 years ago, the first rough hand ax appeared; it was later refined and used with other tools in the Acheulean industry. A flake-tool tradition emerged in the Middle Paleolithic, as exemplified by implements of the Mousterian industry. The Upper Paleolithic (40,000–10,000 BC) saw the emergence of more complex, specialized, and diverse regional stone-tool industries, such as the Aurignacian, Solutrean, and Magdalenian. The two principal forms of Paleolithic art are small sculptures—such as the so-called Venus figurines and various carved or shaped animal and other figures—and monumental paintings, incised designs, and reliefs on the walls of caves such as Altamira (in Spain) and Lascaux Grotto (in France). The end of the Paleolithic is marked by the emergence of the settled agricultural villages of the Neolithic Period.

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or New Stone Age

Final stage of technological development or cultural evolution among prehistoric humans. It is characterized by the use of stone tools shaped by polishing or grinding, the domestication of plants or animals, the establishment of permanent villages, and the practice of such crafts as pottery and weaving. The Neolithic followed the Paleolithic Period (and in northwestern Europe the Mesolithic) and preceded the Bronze Age. Its beginning is associated with the villages that emerged in South Asia circa 9000 BC and flourished in the Tigris and Euphrates river valleys from circa 7000 BC. Farming spread northward throughout Eurasia, reaching Britain and Scandinavia only after 3000 BC. Neolithic technologies also spread to the Indus River valley of India by 5000 BC and to the Huang Ho valley of China by circa 3500 BC. The term is not applied to the New World, though Neolithic modes of life were achieved independently there by circa 2500 BC.

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(born Aug. 13, 1818, West Brookfield, Mass., U.S.—died Oct. 18, 1893, Dorchester, Mass.) U.S. pioneer in the woman suffrage movement. A graduate of Oberlin College (1847), she became a lecturer for the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society. She soon began speaking for women's rights and helped organize women's-rights conventions in the 1850s. She retained her own name after her marriage to Henry Blackwell (1825–1909) as a protest against the unequal laws applicable to married women; other women who later chose to do the same called themselves “Lucy Stoners.” In 1869 she and Blackwell helped establish the American Woman Suffrage Association and founded the influential suffrage magazine Woman's Journal, which they edited until their deaths. They were assisted by their daughter Alice Stone Blackwell (1857–1950), who served as chief editor (1893–1917).

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orig. Isidor Feinstein

(born Dec. 24, 1907, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.—died June 18, 1989, Boston, Mass.) U.S. journalist. He worked on newspapers in his native Philadelphia and in New York and wrote for the leftist newspaper PM before starting his own investigative newsletter. From the outset I. F. Stone's Weekly (1953–67; I. F. Stone's Bi-Weekly, 1967–71) had an influence far greater than the size of its readership, which included some of the nation's most prominent politicians, academicians, and journalists. The sole author, Stone created a unique blend of wit, erudition, and pointed political commentary, and he became known for his espousal of unpopular causes long before they were taken up by the liberal establishment.

Learn more about Stone, I(sidor) F(einstein) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Oct. 11, 1872, Chesterfield, N.H., U.S.—died April 22, 1946, Washington, D.C.) U.S. jurist. He studied at Columbia Law School and later practiced law while serving as dean (1910–23). Pres. Calvin Coolidge appointed him U.S. attorney general in 1924; during his tenure he reorganized the Federal Bureau of Investigation after its reputation had been tarnished by the Teapot Dome and other scandals. In 1925 Coolidge appointed him to the Supreme Court of the United States, and in 1941 Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt promoted him to chief justice, a position he retained until his death. He wrote more than 600 opinions, many on important constitutional questions. He was often less successful, however, in building a consensus among his associate justices, with the result that the court during his chief justiceship was often a bitterly divided body.

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(born March 9, 1902, Fayetteville, Ark., U.S.—died Aug. 6, 1978, New York, N.Y.) U.S. architect. He earned architecture degrees and traveled in Europe before joining the New York City firm that designed Radio City Music Hall. In 1936 he organized his own architectural firm. A leading exponent of the International Style, he designed El Panamá Hotel in Panama City (1946), the U.S. embassy in New Delhi (1954), the U.S. pavilion at the Brussels World's Fair (1958), the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. (1971), and the Aon Center in Chicago (1974). He also taught at Yale University (1946–52).

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